Tourists increase by 17% over first half of the year

Total inbound visitors for June were estimated at 265,823, an increase of 14.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2017, according to figures released by the National Statistics office yesterday.

A total of 227,859 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 16,694 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU member states amounted to 215,429, up by 11.6 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2017.

Most inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 (38.9 per cent), followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket (31.4 per cent). Total nights spent went up by 15.5 per cent when compared to June 2017, surpassing 1.8 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (55.1 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €212.6 million, an increase of 9.7 per cent over the corresponding month in 2017.

Inbound tourist trips for the first six months of 2018 reached 1,162,344, an increase of 17.4 per cent over the same period in 2017.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 17.8 per cent, reaching nearly 7.7 million nights. Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €840.9 million, 11.6 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period of 2017. Total expenditure per capita stood at €723, a decrease of five per cent when compared to 2017.